The Pittsburgh Steelers have backed themselves into a corner with their backup quarterback situation. A week after second-stringer Byron Leftwich was battered and struggled as Ben Roethlisberger's replacement in a 13-10 loss to AFC North archrival Baltimore, Charlie Batch fared worse in Sunday's much more maddening 20-14 division loss at Cleveland.

The 37-year-old Batch, pressed into duty because Leftwich (ribs) joined Roethlisberger (ribs, shoulder) on the shelf, threw three interceptions as part of his 20-for-34, 199-yard passing day. It was coupled with the Steelers' running backs losing five fumbles and rushing for a dismal 49 yards against a vulnerable Browns defense.

What the Steelers quickly learned (again) in two games without Big Ben is how much he's missed. It should make them appreciate—given their season-long struggles to find a consistent rushing attack, get steady offensive line play and manage a pileup of defensive injuries—just how many things Roethlisberger's arm and athleticism help them overcome.

There are few teams in the NFL that wouldn't suffer a huge dropoff when they must fill in for their franchise quarterback. The Steelers also were put in the unusual situation of needing to drop two notches on their depth chart. But there's no sympathy for how they were ill-prepared for the possibility of needing to survive a few games without Roethlisberger. With his recent history of taking a beating, it's surprising they didn't have better insurance for him.

The Steelers are 6-5 and Roethlisberger can't come back soon enough—they're even holding out hope he can play in the rematch against the Ravens on Sunday. That's because it's clear they can't win a game without him, no matter how much help they get from their current supporting cast.

How did they get in this situation? First, they didn't do what a lot of perennial contending teams with elite quarterbacks do, and second, they didn't have an option behind Roethlisberger that could have some success with similar assets.

The Packers have made it a habit of drafting quarterbacks to develop as backups, and had the league's best No. 2 in Matt Flynn a season ago. Ryan Mallett and Chase Daniel, behind Tom Brady in New England and Drew Brees in New Orleans, respectively, are unproven understudies, but they each have the luxury of learning behind a legend in a diverse, quarterback-friendly offense.

In general, if you have a green rookie or second-year player as a starter, it's good to have a quarterback with starting experience behind him. See Chad Henne, who stepped in well for Blaine Gabbert in Jacksonville. Or see Matt Hasselbeck, who helped nicely in Tennessee when Jake Locker couldn't play earlier in the season. Shaun Hill has proved his worth multiple times behind Matthew Stafford in Detroit.

If you have a veteran such as Roethlisberger, it's better to have a raw yet promising younger to which to turn. See Colin Kaepernick, who played well enough to usurp Alex Smith in San Francisco.

It's one thing if you know your starter is durable, like Peyton Manning (before last season) and Eli Manning, the reigning QB iron man. You can get away with a Jim Sorgi or David Carr there. But for someone who plays with such fearlessness as Roethlisberger, it's critical to have a fallback a team would feel comfortable using.

Leftwich and Batch deserve respect as aging passers who have been able to hang around, but they were more like emergency quarterbacks for the Steelers. A more reasonable solution would have been going after recently signed Brian Hoyer a lot earlier than last week. Hoyer would have been an ideal pickup when the Patriots released him earlier in the year, given he was used to absorbing behind a multiple Super Bowl winner in Brady.

Leftwich and Batch were seen as veteran caretakers, who could keep the Steelers winning assuming their running game and defense could come through. The running game didn't help either Steelers backup, but the defense did its big part, and it still wasn't enough. Last week, Dick LeBeau's group marched on without Troy Polamalu, but kept the Ravens from scoring an offensive touchdown. On Sunday, that same group, despite the offense giving the ball away eight times, held the Browns to only 238 total yards, two touchdowns and two field goals. In Cleveland, the defense even provided a touchdown and an early lead with which to work on linebacker Lawrence Timmons' 53-yard interception return.

Leftwich and Batch are supposed to help with their experience, but their effectiveness at this late stage of their careers just isn't there. With "Roethlisberger Light" style quarterbacks coming out of college left and right, it's silly the Steelers hadn't stashed one during the past four drafts. The closest was 2008 fourth-rounder Dennis Dixon, who started a game when both Roethlisberger and Batch were out against the Ravens in 2009. For a team that does so well to stockpile through the draft, not taking a quarterback through 35 picks since 2009 is surprising.

Maybe Roethlisberger will tough it out and get them back on the AFC playoff track this season before they run out of time. But what happened in the past two games should be a stark reminder that their backup plans haven't been best-laid. Roethlisberger isn't getting any younger or healthier, so they must put forth a better plan for next season.